TESTED BY CONOR POPE

VALUE FOR MONEY HOME-BAKE BREAD

Tesco Homebake Mini Petits Pains, €1.49 for 240g, €6.20 per kg

Highs:The packet comes in two sealed compartments, which allowed us to keep three of the bread rolls fresher for longer. A commonsense idea. They are crispy on the outside and, unlike some of the competition, which were a bit airy, nice and bready.

Lows:Just a little lacking in flavour. They are definitely on the small side so you certainly would not be able to make a sandwich of any substance out of a single one. They are very salty and when we checked the ingredient list, we were alarmed to see that one small roll made up a full 10 per cent of our daily allowance. They were not as cheap we would have expected from Tesco own-brand (not Finest) product.

Verdict:Absolutely fine

Star rating:****

Wheatfield Bakery Bake at Home Baguette Rolls, €1.15 for 300g, €3.83 per kg

Highs:The best thing about these French-produced baguettes is the price - they are substantially cheaper than most of the competition. They are also denser, doughier and just a little bit more sour tasting - and if that sounds like a criticism, it is not intended to be. These rolls are substantially darker in colour than the others, which are made to look pale and undercooked beside them.

Lows:They don't crisp up as much as the competition, although we were conflicted as to whether or not that was a good thing. We were fairly certain, however, that the salt content was a bad thing - 18 per cent of your daily allowance is to be found in one of these 75g rolls.

Verdict:Too salty

Star rating: **

Country Kitchens Large Petits Pains, €1.65 for 240g, €6.87 per kg

Highs:These are made in Cork with French wheat flour. The flour lends a certain authenticity while their origin gives them a feel-good factor. They are comparatively low in salt but, more importantly, managed to be substantial while being fairly light. They also have have a nice bready flavour and, more than the others, made our kitchen smell nice during baking. They are the biggest bread rolls of the lot and will make for an absolutely fine lunch. They are also the most widely available and not confined to a single store.

Lows:It is a very minor criticism, but these didn't seem to crisp up or brown as well as some of the competition and were left looking a little wan. We thought three was an odd number, both literally and metaphorically.

Verdict:Top notch

Star rating: *****

Cuisine de France Petits Pains, €1.75 for 240g, €7.29 per kg

Highs:These rolls come from the company which is probably most responsible for the introduction of freshly baked baguettes to the Irish market. Like the Tesco brand, the packet can be divided and sealed, which keeps half the rolls fresher for longer. They have a lightness and crispiness to them that some will find appealing.

Lows:These are the most expensive of the rolls we tried and we can't help feeling we're paying more because the brand is so familiar. While the lightness might be considered a plus, there is a lot of air in the mix which makes it a good deal less substantial that some of the competition. They were also pretty tasteless and, without wanting to be too critical, we found that they tasted ever so slightly cardboardy

Verdict:Too dear, too airy

Star rating: **

Landgut Baguettes from Lidl €0.79 for 300g, €2.63 per kg

Highs:They are soft and doughy and consequently a lot more substantial than some of the competition. On the whole, they are better than some, worse than some, but they are so much cheaper that it is very hard to find fault with them.

Lows:Hard but not impossible, that is. They were just a little bit too chewy for our taste and a bit too salty to boot. And, far be it for us to give out about Lidl's no doubt carefully planned and executed branding, but we're really not sure that a bread called Landgut is ever going to fly off the shelves in an English-speaking country, even if it doesn't taste remotely of, eh, landgut.

Verdict: Good value

Star rating: ****